This invention is concerned with techniques for steering high energy laser beams.
Acousto-optic and electro-optic methods for steering a coherent optical beam are known in the art. Acousto-optic Bragg scattering, for example, is a well-known phenomenon and has been widely used for such applications as beam steering, beam modulation, and frequency shifting. The steering of a high energy laser beam over a large aperture is a difficult task, however, particularly for long wavelength lasers where acousto-optic or electro-optic devices are inefficient or impractical.